Peace Lily - Dried up Flowers - Demo

Working with dried leaves with curls and shading, I found these dried up Peace Lily flowers to be a perfect specimen to practice with..............plus the added bonus of the stamen.

Thought I would share the steps I took to create this journal entry :-))

Worked in a Moleskine Sketchbook......

First I did the initial pen and ink sketch using the Micron 01 Brown pen.  I used stippling for ink shading rather than hatch marks as to me it just looks better. 

Next I took the Inktense "Mustard" watercolor pencil and lightly went over the entire flower portion (stamen worked later).  Watercolor pencils are used dry without taking any water to them.

Once that was done, I began the shading process applying more pressure with this same pencil.

Then I took the Inktense "Willow" watercolor pencil darkening the shading I had already done with the previous pencil.

Once I was happy with the shading, I started working on the stamen (see illustration below).  Once that was completed, I looked over the overall tones and darkened my shading if necessary with the Willow and touched up here and there with the Micron along a few edges.

NOTE.............the stamen demo below shows me adding a blue shadow to the stamen.  That was purely for the illustration.  In the actual flower, my Willow Inktense pencil is all I used re-emphasizing a few "circles" or "Squigglies" along the edge with the Micron Pen.

Using the Uniball White gel pen, I dotted in the white pollen.  In a few areas I even added a dot here and there using the Micron 01 Brown, taking care not to over do it.

Final, I added shadow with the Derwent Blue Gray watercolor pencil.

 

Back on Memory Lane - Disney 2009

This is from a photo I took while on holiday with my brother and his family at Disney World.  I was taking photos of just the surroundings and people in general.

The people in the background were formed from squiggly lines initially intended to represent foliage around the buildings.  As I sat looking at the foliage, I started seeing people shapes and decided to emphasize those shapes :-))

This was a lot of fun and I'm sure mainly due to the fun memories of this trip together.

Wren Challenge by Nan Vore Burger

This is a challenge where Nan (thank you Nan!!!) uploaded a photo and people within the AJW group was welcome to use as a reference for painting and/or sketching.

I chose to do mine in pen and ink. 

The original photo had the wren sitting on a bare branch.  As I worked this, I added the berry in the mouth (which started out as a simple circle to help me define the curvature of the beak).  Then added some leaves plus the border.

Practicing Animals Using Box Shapes

Taken from the book, "Wildlife Sketching" by Frank Lohan, I practiced a few animals using his box shape examples.

It's one thing for me to follow already laid out box shapes.........it's another to actually visualize them when looking at an actual animal.  You'd think looking at something and working with shapes would be easier but it doesn't really work for me.....at least broken down shapes within a subject.  My eyes see the overall shape and stops there.

Nest Study

Because I struggle with negative shapes, I tend to avoid subjects like this.  Yesterday I finally made myself sit down and do some practice.  By the time I reached the bottom, I felt more at ease with what I was doing.

New Art Form - Zentangles

A gal in one of the groups I'm in asked me the other day if I had heard of Zentangles.  I hadn't heard of the term but after surfing the web, I realized I had seen this style in another group but just didn't know what it was called.

After studying several examples and reading what I could find on it, I decided to give it a go.  Talk about fun and relaxing!!!!

Back years ago I used to do what I called "Kaleidoscope Cameos".  The idea was to draw out a shape and then with light pencil do a squiggly line creating segments.  Within those segments I would use different color watercolors and different techniques..........salt, water drops, glazing, etc.

Using that same concept and what Zentangles is all about, I worked one of my original watercolor lizards but used the various patterns instead within the segments.

Here are a few more with the mushrooms finished last night.

 

 

Rather than just working in a box making random shapes and patterns, I prefer to have some sort of subject to work on.

Now this is my idea of fun doodling :-))  Thank you Carol!!!!!

Simple Pen and Ink with Watercolor Pencils - Dry

I needed a break after all the stippling I did with the dog toys but still wanted to sketch something.  Here is a very simple sketch of field flowers or weeds I had taken pictures of early Spring.  It was snowing the day I sketched this :-))

Miya and Her Toys

One of my weak areas (or so I feel) are sketching animals.  Especially if they have the long curly fur.  I've tried several times trying to capture my "baby" on paper but never liked the results.

Wanting to try again, I decided to sketch some cats.  The reason for cats is because they can be so poised and offer greater poses than a dog might.

Here is my warming up with cat figures:

After this I attempted Miya in pencil.   

Then I took pen and ink to this using the dryer feed Pilot Prera and Lexington Gray ink..  I prefer the results of the graphite because it is soft and fresh looking.  The pen and ink is OK but to my eyes looks a bit stiff.  I'm still happy overall with the results.  All graphite was erased after the pen and ink and then went back over using the graphite for some shading in places rather than ink.

And here are a couple of her toys.  When I was done with this, my hand actually hurt.....all that stippling!!!!  I love the results with all the dots but on this paper, it was a challenge for my pen and my hand.  It took a long time to do this.

Fountain Pens Comparison

Tonight I've been playing with each of my fountain pens comparing nib size and ink flow.  Thought I would share the following with you:

NOTES:  My own personal thoughts

a.  I have two Pilot Preras (both Fine nib) and each feeds ink differently.  One dryer than the other (which I like)
b.  Love the feel of the shorter pens in my hand.
c.  The Platinum Carbon pen is a desk pen with a long thin tapering barrel.  We cut it just below where the cartridge sits inside in order to post the cap.
d.  The Lamy Safari is a nice pen but I find the squared barrel to start hurting my hand after a long period of time.
e.  Both Noodler Flex pens have to be jump started for ink flow by dipping in water.  Other pens with the same ink doesn't do that for some reason.  The Creaper to me feeds better but it might just be a nib adjustment to make the Konrad flow properly.
f.  The Hero 578 is a bent nib calligraphy pen.  It's metal and quite heavy.  Large in my hand and I can't use it for any real length of time before having to take a break. It is a fun pen to play with!
g.  My top two favorite pens are the Pilot Prera #3 above (the dryer feed allows me better control with values) and the Platinum Carbon.  My preference is using a pen with the finer nib point and with the Lexington Gray ink because it's not as stark as black.

Artist's Journal Workshop Challenge 2

After the crab apple challenge, another member of the group uploaded four photos of a jade plant hoping to inspire folks to continue with he joint project idea.

The member is Jacqui Petersen.

This one took me a long time to do.  I first used my Pilot Prera with Lexington Gray ink sketching out the shapes and stippling on only a few of the leaves.  Then I started with Inktense pencils dry.  As I worked, I would stop and take a damp brush to the color.  Then go back if necessary and add more dry pencil.  Final detailing with a Uniball Bordeaux Black gel pen.

I found myself fidgeting.  Adding color, trying to lift if already wet and erasing color if still dry (before the wash).  I have limited colors in the pencils and I didn't really care for the greens I had to choose from.  I also struggled keeping the "wash" clean because I was using complimentary colors that mixed together can turn dull or grayish.

4 Greens, 2 Reds, Dark Blue, a light brown and Gray Inktense pencils.

Moleskine Sketchbook

Holly Leaves Pen and Ink plus Watercolor

While out with my daughter-in-law doing house inspections for her job, I came across this holly tree at one of the houses we went to.  I took several pictures and from those pictures I came up with this page arrangement.

Pen and Ink in Moleskine Watercolor sketchbook
Pilot Prera with Lexington Gray ink using the stippling effect for shading.
Watercolors Used:  Daniel Smith - Fr Ultramarine, Sap Green, Aureolin, Perm Aliz, Quint Bt Orange, and Winsor & Newton Skarlet Red.

I used Sap Green as a green mixing base adding the yellow and/or blue to give me different greens.  Also added Perm Aliz to darken one of the mixes for the deepest greens.

The berries were worked in such a way where the left bunch is more vibrant for the focal area.  Then slightly lighter to the right and blue glazed over the red in the back three berries to help push them back.  Notice I placed the lightest more vibrant greens near my focal area.

Artists Journal Workshop Challenge 1

One of the members of this Facebook group posted several photos of her crab apples and said anyone interested could use them as a challenge idea.  It was a hit with several jumping in and completing this challenge.

My contribution is a pen and ink using the Pilot Prera and Lexington Gray ink and the Platinum Carbon pen with mixture of Black and Lexy Gray (writes wetter helping to better define some areas)..  Then I added color using Inktense watercolor pencils.....dry.

Challenge suggested by Nan Vose Burger.

Some of My Latest Sketches

I didn't realize just how far behind I was uploading what I've worked on the last few days.  These are not in any particular order.

This is a pen and ink using a Platinum Carbon pen with Noodler's #41 Brown.  Worked in the Moleskine Sketchbook.

 

Here is my trying out one of my brush pens.  

 

Another pen and ink using the Pilot Prera with Lexington Gray Ink.  Second is applying some subtle color.  I didn't want too much for fear of covering the pen marks.

 

This is a failed piece but thought I'd share it.  It might be OK if I finished it but I'm personally not crazy with the hatching for tones.  

 

This is another I'm not real crazy about.  I had expectations (shame on me) and I didn't live up to them.  I might try these again with a different medium or different technique.

 

Just to do something, I sketched this vase with dried flowers after catching a glimpse in a TV show.

Before they are gone

My red Christmas Cactus flowers don't last very long.  Neither do the white.  But the pink seem to last several days and still have buds to open.  The display this year is the best yet so I'm trying to capture the flowers at different angles while I can.

Here is a 9 x 12 sheet of various flowers and buds as I turn one plant to capture the various stages and angles of these gorgeous blossoms.  They are getting easier for me to sketch.

Generic Sketchbook and Pilot Prera with Lexington Gray ink.  Green and Dark Pink watercolor pencil.

Another of My Christmas Cactus

Tonight I chose to capture the red and white Christmas Cactus I have.  The blossoms are a tad bit different from the pinks and the whites.  Also produces smaller flowers.

With this one I showed a flower blossom completely opened right side up as it hangs naturally and included the underside as well.  The right page is one that is getting ready to "spread its wings."

Worked in the Moleskine Watercolor sketchbook using my Pilot Prera with Lexington Gray ink and Abrecht Durer watercolor pencils.  I only used four colors........Red, Orange, Light Green, and a Dark Green.

Scanned dry and then after taking a damp brush.......Not sure which I like better.  Before the damp brush was taken to it, the red showed deeper and I like the little bit of texture. 

Catching Up With the Last Few Days of Sketching/Painting

I've fallen behind posting here on my blog.  Two days without power and also feeling a tad bit under the weather.  However, I've still managed to keep up with sketching and a little painting.

This is a portion of a school in a near-by town of Mannington, WV.

One of my favorite birds next to hummingbirds.

The night our power, cell, and internet went out.  Was having trouble deciding what to sketch but I wanted to sketch something.

After I did the sketch of me holding my sketchbook, I decided to grab a book and whatever page I opened up to, I sketched (bottom left of this page).  Book used for bottom left was The Ultimate Drawing and Painting Technique Bible by Trudy Friend.

The rest of the illustrations I just did on my own from photographs. 

Same night (we were up all night), I started this in pen and ink of one of my Christmas Cacti.  Next day I added the watercolor.  Wasn't able to scan until yesterday.

 

Last night I wanted to try something a little different.  I've seen other people do it and loved the results.  This is pre-wetting the page in my journal and swishing on color.  Allowed to dry and then did the pen and ink work of the palm trees.

Finally before going to bed, I sketched and painted this tree.  I love trees with all the various shapes.